"It's tempting to say Topeka [Kansas, was] the political power centre of the world on Monday. President George Bush [was] here along with the man who hopes to succeed him to the most powerful position in the world, Senator John Kerry ... These visitors [came] to pay symbolic tribute, on behalf of millions of people they represent, to the 1954 Brown v Topeka Board of Education decision in which the US supreme court outlawed segregated schools. By being here, Mr Bush [was] symbolically saying that the American people, whom he represents, believe in that message ... Topeka is proud that some of our citizens took a stand against racism, prejudice and segregation."

Los Angeles Times Editorial, May 17

"It would have been difficult 50 years ago to envision advancement that would land blacks in the highest ranks of government and at the helm of giant corporations, to imagine cultural changes that would produce black beauty queens, a white rap star and an explosion in interracial relationships so pronounced that census forms need a 'multiracial' category.

"Perhaps Brown's most important effect was largely symbolic - an official declaration that the collective vision of this nation rests on the image, no matter how idealistic, of white and black children working side by side. Brown pulled a brick from the bottom of a wall that had, for hundreds of years, separated the races - destabilising it, so that it could be brought down in places, bit by bit, by sit-ins, court cases, demonstrations and the unrelenting force of social change. We are not yet at peace with diversity. But much of the progress that we have made can be directly traced to Brown v Board of Education."

Washington Post Editorial, May 17

"The case was a pivotal event in dismantling state-sponsored white supremacy in America. Its rejection of racial segregation, while confined to education, could not be limited to the educational sphere for long. The decision represented an emphatic insistence that the US constitution's promise of 'equal protection' meant what it said and that the federal courts would ensure that promise was kept ...

"Brown's work is indeed incomplete: America is not the colour-blind society to which the 14th amendment aspires. But it is immeasurably closer to that goal as a result of Brown."

Michael J Klarman New York Times, May 17

"Brown reflected a social and political sea change at least as much as it caused one. US supreme court justices are, first and foremost, products of their time and place; as such, they are ill positioned to start social revolutions. Those who served at midcentury were not tempted to invalidate school segregation until fully half the nation supported such a ruling ...

"Brown certainly played a role in shaping both the civil rights movement and the violent response it received from Southern whites. But racial reform in the US was ineluctable. In the end, what the supreme court did or did not do was of limited importance."

Dallas News Editorial, May 16

"We aren't there yet. The schools have become resegregated. Whites moved to the suburbs or transferred their children out of the public schools, and immigrants - including many from Mexico and Latin America - took their place ... Judging from everything from dropout rates to the composition of special education classes, black ... students, on average, still don't receive the same education in America as white students ... The goal should be to improve public education for the good of every child. Not until we achieve that will we have answered the challenge of Brown v Board of Education."

San Francisco Chronicle Editorial, May 16

"These days Brown is sometimes dismissed as embodying an anachronistic and ineffective approach to narrowing the persistent achievement gap in our schools ... The resegregation of our schools is an outcome that should concern all Americans. Schools with predominantly black and Latino students almost always have far fewer resources than those with a predominantly white and Asian population ... Since Brown, we have learned that the achievement gap will not disappear simply because a student attends a desegregated school. Improving educational performance turns out to be far more complicated than placing underachieving students in a racially balanced setting."

Charles Ogletree Boston Globe, May 17

"We are right to question the significance of Brown and to acknowledge that much of its promise has not been fulfiled. Yet, we understate its significance if we fail to appreciate its role in eliminating overt forms of discrimination and creating a country where the potential for social justice might one day be achieved.

"We understate its significance if we fail to appreciate its role in opening the doors of institutions like Harvard not just to African-American students, but to other ethnic groups and women as well. We would be wrong if we were to deny that the decision represents the most significant case on race in America's history."